Black troubles
by Narnaith
Summary: A new horse means a lot of trouble for Lancelot.COMPLETE!
1. Default Chapter

Title: Black troubles

Author: Narnaith

Pairings: None

PG: 13

Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama

Disclaimer: I wish I would but I don't own Arthur and the knights.

Summary: A new horse means a lot of trouble for Lancelot.

Feedback is much appreciated :-)

**Black troubles**

Chapter 1

Nocturnal silence covered the fortress at Hadrain's Wall. Nearly each inhabitant whether Roman, Briton or Sarmatian was sleeping.

Only a dark figure running across the yard disturbed this temporary peace.

Meanwhile Lancelot lay in his bed in fitful slumber. At last he had fallen asleep after tossing and turning for hours. Worries and perhaps anxiety had bothered him the whole day and half the night. His sleep should not be very long this night.

A loud knocking on the door and repeated shouts brought him abruptly back to reality. Immediately alert he sat upright his hands instinctively going over his shoulders to grab his swords. A sharp pain shot through his left upper arm reminding him the last battle two days ago.

His fingers however didn't find the hilts of the twin swords at their usual place. Confused he looked around to find out where they had gone. Slowly he realised that he was sitting on his own bed and his blades were placed beside him on the floor as usual when the knights spent the night in the safety of the fortress.

Suddenly the knocking stoped and the door flew open. Jols nearly fell into the small room. "Lancelot, wake up, it's urgent!"

"I _am_ awake! And if you want to grow old don't sneak up on sleeping people like that especially if these people are knights!" At once he remembered the time and in view of this something must have been happened. The worries that had bothered him the last day returned. "What's the matter? What happened?" Lancelot barely dared to ask this question.

"It's Toros, your horse! He has got a high fever and I'm afraid he won't survive this night!"

Jols had just announced these bad news when Lancelot jumped out of his bed and ran in wild haste towards the stables. His worst fear had become true.

On the way Lancelot's thoughts went back to the events two days ago.

Arthur and his knights had been on patrol looking for a gang of thieves who threatened each traveller on the road. Their search would not last too long.

Tristan who had been out scouting had returned, his hawk perched on his arm. "I found their camp. It's hidden in the woods in a hollow but not too far from the road", he had explained.

"How many are they and how can we get closer without drawing their attention to us?", Arthur had asked.

"Maybe 20, 25 at most. There is a small path running among the trees. If we use it, we will reach the back of the camp. They don't guard this path and so we will have the advantage of a surprise attack."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Bors had interrupted.

"All right. Tristan, you'll lead the way."

They had reached the camp in no time. The small path had led the group of Sarmatian knights to the back of the camp and as Tristan had already found out, it hadn't been guarded.

The thieves had been gathered around a fire bragging their last raid on a well-known Roman merchant dealer when suddenly all hell had broken out.

The knights had reach the camp in total silence avoiding being noticed by the criminals. But after arriving their destination they had stormed the

hollow with loud shouts. The thieves barely had had time to reach for their weapons when their first comrades had fallen to the ground dying or already dead.

Arthur and his knights had crossed the camp on horseback trying to decimate their enemies by trampling them down. Then Tristan had taken out his bow and had fired his arrows with fatal precision.

Dagonet, Bors and Gawain had dismounted from their horses to fight their opponents on foot.

Tristan, Galahad and Arthur had continued their deathly ride through the camp, now also using their swords to bring their enemies down.

Lancelot had just turned his horse around when suddenly one of the ciminals had managed to jump on the horse.

The blade of a small but sharp knife had flashed in his hand. Lancelot had sensed the deathly danger in his back and had thrown himself against his opponent and by his swing both men had fallen to the ground. Lancelot had landed on top of his enemy.

A stiffled moan had escaped from his lips when he had felt the blade penetrating his left upper arm. Ignoring the pain in his arm he had stood up, his twin swords in his hands. The thief had grabbed his large sword lying behind him. Burning with rage the man had held his weapon in front of him and had run towards Lancelot.

Lancelot only had taken a single step aside using his right blade he had sent the man to the ground again. Lancelot then had aimed for his opponent's neck and with one swift motion with his twin swords he had decapitated his enemy. "Well, that was nearly far too easy", he had commented on the criminal's fatal mistake. A quick look around had told him that the fight had almost ended.

Arthur now also fighting in close combat had brought Excalibur up to cut his opponent's throat. Bors and Dagonet had slaughtered every thief who had gotten too close to the two knights. Tristan had picked off a last attacker who had been foolish enough to try to get closer to him to make use of his axe. Galahad and Gawain had brought down their enemies nearly at the same time. Only a few criminals had been still standing.

"Put down your weapons and we will spare your live!" Arthur had announced.

Having witnessed their comrades fate had taught them that they never could beat the Sarmatian knights. One by one the criminals had put their blades down.

"Dagonet and Bors, make sure that our catch has no chance to ecape! There is a nice little dungeon waiting for them." While Bors and Dagonet had been guarding the prisoners the rest of the knights had resheathed their weapons. Tristan had begun to remove his arrows from the deads to replenish his quiver.

Gawain had already gathered the most part of the horses which had followed their natural instinct during the fight and had tried to get away to safety. Lancelot had let his gaze wander over the mayhem in the hollow to find out were Toros had gone. He had found his black stallion close to the place were this stupid criminal had dared to attack him. He had walked across the battle field and had taken hold of the horse's reins. But when he had tried to take the stallion across the hollow to join his fellow knights he had noticed that Toros had avoided to put his weight on his right front leg. Immediately Lancelot had kneeled down to have a look at the leg. He had found a deep wound covered with mud and dirt which was bleeding freely. Toros had started to become nervous and had tried to escape from Lancelot's grip. "Shh, easy, it's all right, boy. Let me have a look at it. I promise you I will not hurt you."

Lancelot hadn't noticed that Arthur and Galahad had crossed the battlefield to see what had kept Lancelot back from joining the others.

"Is he hurt?", Galahad had asked.

"Yes, he has got a deep gash on his leg. There is a lot of dirt and mud inside. I think someone of these stupid bastards must have pierced him with a blade and he fell to the ground. He managed to get up again but now he barely can walk."

"It's a luck that we aren't far from home. Do you think he will manage to make it back to the fortress?"

"If we don't have to hurry he will make it." With these words Lancelot had arisen. A flash of pain had crossed his face when his wounded arm had knocked against his horse's chest. Only then Arthur had noticed Lancelot's arm bleeding.

"What about your arm? You're wounded, too. And don't tell me it's Toros' blood for I won't believe you."

Lancelot had looked down at his torn sleeve and the deep cut in his skin. The blood was still seeping out.

"It's just a scratch. Nothing to worry about", Lancelot had assured. But Arthur knew his friend well enough to see that the wound had been bothering Lancelot and that he never would admit that.

"Galahad, get Tristan. And you, my friend, sit down!", Arthur had ordered. Reluctantly Lancelot had sat down on a tree stump standing behind him. But a glance at Arthur's face had told him that it was pointless to start a discussion about that topic.

Galahad and Tristan had returned closely followed by Gawain who had wanted to see what had been going on there.

Tristan had kneeled down in front of Lancelot his saddle bag beside him.

"I have to tear your sleeve to have a look at this cut and to bandage it."

"Get on with it, but I tell you it's just a small scratch. Toros needs your help, not me!"

When the cloth of Lancelot's tunic had been removed it had turned out that the gash had been deeper than Lancelot had tought.

"I'm sorry, but this cut will require some stitches. But it'll have to wait till we are in the fortress. For now I'll bandage it to stop the bleeding. Then I will have a look at Toros", Tristan had suggested.

"Do what you want but BE CAREFUL!"

When the bandage at Lancelot's arm had been done Tristan had examined Toros' leg. It had seemed the animal had sensed that the scout had just wanted to help him. Tristan had gently cleaned and bandaged the wound.

"It looks pretty bad. I tried to clean it but it's possible that this wound will become infected", Tristan had proclaimed.

Finally Arthur had given the signal for his Sarmatian knights and their prisoners to set off.

While the rest of the knights had taken the criminals to the fortress to hand them over to the Roman authorities, Lancelot accompanied by Galahad had followed taken his stallion by the reins and accompanied by Galahad. It had taken them a lot of time to arrive the fort at Badon Hill because they had had to rest frequently but none of them had talked. Just the essentiel information had been exchanged between the two knights. Serious worries had bothered Lancelot the entire way to the fortress. And these worries had grown until now even more.

After the cut in Lancelot's arm had been stitched he had made his way to the stables to check on Toros. The black stallion had continued been still avoiding putting any weight on the injured leg.

During the next two days Lancelot had stood by his horse the entire time. He had even slept in the stables the first night.

When he had checked the wound the following morning he had noticed that the leg had been hot and swollen. Horrified Lancelot had recognized the symptoms of a dangerous infection.

They had treated the wound with medicinal plants but the infection had only become worse. In the late evening Arthur had ordered that Lancelot should spend this night in his bed. Lancelot had only agreed when Jols had promised him that he would wake up Lancelot if Toros would got worse.

Unfortuntately that event had come to pass.

When Lancelot reached the stables he found his stallion lying down on the hay ground covered with sweat and tortured by shivering fits. The infection of the leg had gotten worse.

Jols arrived trying to catch his breath. Lancelot looked up from where he kneeled. "Jols, get Tristan! Hurry up!"

After Jols' deaprture back towards the knights' quaters Lancelot turned his attention back to Toros: "Come on, it's not time to lie down! And it's no time to die on me now more than ever!" He patted the horse's neck to calm him down and to motivate him to stand up. But the animal didn't react.

Finally Tristan appeared. One look at the horse told him that the infection would be deadly and all attempts to help would be in vain. The inflammation had developped into a blood poisoning.

Tristan approached Lancelot to tell him the terrible truth. He placed a hand on Lancelot's right shoulder. "Nobody can help him. His blood is poisoned. All we can do for him now is to release him from this agony."

Lancelot suddenly realized that Tristan was right. "I'll do it!", he whispered almost inaudibly. Tristan nodded silently, drew his dagger and passed it to Lancelot. The scout understood that this was very important for Lancelot.

His dark eyes filled with tears Lancelot took the dagger. "I'm so sorry, boy. Farewell!" With these words he pierced the stallion's heart with one quick movement. The horse was dead immediately.

Lancelot droped the weapon and disappeared before Tristan or Jols could say a word to comfort him.

_Tbc_


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm very sorry if there are still some mistakes but I'm not a native speaker.

Feedback is very much appreciated.

Chapter 2

The new day found the knights gathered at the yard discussing what they could do. Tristan had told them the fateful events of the night during the breakfast. No one had seen Lancelot since Toros' tragic death but all of them could understand how Lancelot felt.

"I think we should leave Lancelot in peace for today. If I know him he doesn't want that anyone sees him mourning", Gawain remarked.

"Yes, that would be the best. But he needs to get a new horse as soon as possible. We are knights after all", Arthur reminded the Sarmartians. "I'll talk to him about it tomorrow."

Galahad, who had lost a horse himself just a few weeks ago, knew that it would be a cruel blow for Lancelot to replace Toros like an inanimate object. "Oh yes, the Roman military can't show consideration for such an insignificant matter like a dead horse. I forgot."

"No one says that a horse is an 'insignificant matter'. But what kind of knight would you be without a horse?", Arthur tried to justify himself. "Thank God there's no new mission ordered for us so far."

During the entire day Lancelot was nowhere to be seen. The rest of the knights enjoyed their spare time but their thoughts went back to Lancelot and his horse from time to time. Even Arthur did not know where his closest friend had hidden.

When the knights met in the tavern in the evening Lancelot was still missing. They grew more and more worried. Arthur decided to search for his friend and leaving the others behind existed left the tavern.

He made his way towards the stables although he knew that he wouldn't find Lancelot there. Before he really knew what he was doing he had entered the stables and headed off towards his own horse. The white stallion neighed and turned his head to Arthur. Reassured that his own horse was well Arthur patted the stallion's neck and continued his search.

He crossed the cemetery where all fallen knights had found their rest as he knew that Lancelot preferred this quiet place when he tried to come to terms with something that bothered him.

But this time the cemetery was empty apart from the swords which marked each grave and a few mice which were still looking for something to eat.

Slightly confused Arthur went slowly towards the wall. From time to time he stopped still searching for a sign of his friend. When he passed by a small wood thicket he stopped once more but now simply to take on the beautiful view from Badon Hill to Hadrian's wall. The landscape was still covered with a perfect white blanket of snow twinkling in the starlight.

Suddenly an in this moment unexpected voice was heard: "I thought you would prefer to sleep in a proper bed instead of going for a walk in the dark. Or were you just looking for a quiet place to talk to your God once more? Give it up, it doesn't work. I prayed to nearly every god I could remember from my childhood during the past two days."

Arthur was startled at the noise and turned around. He found Lancelot sitting under a tree in the small wood thicket and it didn't seem as if he would be leaving his hiding place anytime soon.

"I really prefer a warm bed or at least a place near the fireplace to a hike around the fortress in midwinter searching for a particular friend. But someone has to keep this friend from doing something foolish like catching a bad cold." With these words Arthur approached his friend and sat down before him. In Lancelot's brown eyes he could see the grief and despair but also a deep tiredness. For a while the two friends just sat there in silence.

Finally Lancelot broke the silence by stating: "Well, you found me. What do you really want?"

"Currently I would be satisfied if you would talk to me instead of hiding like a young child and return to the fortress."

"I'm not like a child! It's just... Toros meant a lot to me. He was the first foal of my father's mare. My father had promised me the first foal of Docras when I was about seven or eight years old. I was there when he was born. I saw his first attempt to stand up. I was the first person who rode him and I brought him to this damn island. He was always there. When I became homesick in the beginning of my duty he was my sole consolation. Sometimes I thought he could really understand me like a man would.

He was one of my last keepsakes to my memento of home and my father and I could do nothing to prevent his wound or to save his life! I even killed him!" These last words were uttered so quietly that Arthur could barely hear them.

"You don't have to reproach yourself for Toros' death. You even have saved his life many times before. Do you remember the battle near this dark, deep lake in the east? It must be about two years ago now. You caught this arrow which was meant to bring Toros down."

"But this Woad was either a terrible archer or a particularly cruel warrior. This arrow was aimed to high to just 'bring him down'. I had the choice if this arrow would hit Toro's throat or my shoulder and I decided that it would be more possible to heal a wound in my shoulder than one in Toros' throat."

"There's something about I have been wondering since this day: Why did you know this arrow would hit your shoulder instead _your_ throat or your chest?", Arthur asked.

"I thought I said that this Woad was a terrible archer", Lancelot answered with a small grin. Just a few moments later the grin vanished and the expression of grief returned to Lancelot's face.

"This time I did nothing to keep him unhurt. And it was me who stabbed him to death."

"But you did it to release him. And it demanded a lot of courage and love for Toros to do this. I'm not sure if I could do the same. And if it's any consolation to you, you spared him a lot of agony and pain.

And what could you have done to prevent this wound? We all were engaged in this fight and no one even noticed that one of these criminals attacked your horse. Apart from this fact it also could have been an unfortunate coincidence that Toros was hit. To prevent this wound you had had to stand beside your horse the entire fight. And you have to admit that it would have been to boring just to stand there and watch the battle."

Lancelot sighed. "Maybe you're right. I knew that one day Toros would die because of an injury caused in a battle. And I feared this day. But altough I knew it would happen it's still very hard to accept that."

The two knights fell silent. After a while Arthur remembered that there was still an important topic left.

" Lancelot, there's another thing I've to talk to you about. I know it must sound insensitively to you but you need another horse soon."

Arthur was prepared for a tantrum, grief or even hate but he didn't expect Lancelot's reaction. The knight lifted his head, looked at Arthur and then slowly nodded. "I know. But I need some time. Then I will look for another one."

"You should have that time. If we should get a new order in the meantime you can ride a horse of a legionary."

"You're sure they know what a horse is? I thought they ride mules because they are not so tall."

To hear his friend joking about Romans again eased Arthur's heart a lot. "And what about going back to the fortress? I don't know how you are feeling but I'm frozen stiff."

"Yeah, me too. I think going back is a good idea." With these words Lancelot got up, a little bit stiff by the cold. Together they made their way back to the fortress. Suddenly Lancelot began to speak: "Even now when Toros is dead I still have my swords left as a keepsake to remind me of home. That's better than nothing."

Neither Arthur nor Lancelot knew that another knight was still outside, today prefering the tranquillity of this midwinter night instead of joining his fellow knights in the tavern.

Tristan had shown up in the tavern this evening but after a few moments he had realised that he didn't feel like spending the night cooped inside. He had left the tavern unnoticed by the other knights.

The scout had left the fortress behind and had made his way towards the small thicket between Badon Hill and the wall. After being in the fortress for three days now and without the chance of a new mission for the knights any time soon he had felt like a caged animal. When he had reached his destination he had simply enjoyed being alone with the nature.

While he walked around in the small thicket he had suddenly detected two voices. Immediately he had taken cover in the deep shadow of the trees. Carefully he had approached the two figures without letting them know that he was there. Quickly he had discovered that the two figures were Arthur and Lancelot.

Tristan had prepared to disappear among the trees again but something in Lancelot's voice had made him hesitate and he had listened on the entire conversation between Arthur and Lancelot.

As Arthur's scout Tristan spent a lot of time alone just accompanied by his mare and his hawk. And these animals were friends to him. For this reason he understood exactly how Lancelot was feeling about his loss.

After Arthur and Lancelot had made their way back to the fortress Tristan stayed behind to think. He sympathized with Lancelot and suddenly a thought shot through his mind. An idea how he could help him.

Determined Tristan set off for the fortress.

The following morning he left Badon Hill as early as possible but carefully enough to avoid being noticed by anyone who might realize what he was up to.

_Tbc_

_crystalblood: Thanks for your review. I'm very sorry for the mistakes._

_acuamain: (blushing) Thank you very much! I can promise you that Lancelot _will _find another horse. _

_Drakcir: I hope you like the second chapter_


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Yes, this story still exist :-)

I'm very sorry for the delay but I had some problems with this chapter and so it took me a little while.

I hope Tristan is not to much ooc in this but it seemed to me that he could understand Lance the best in his grief for his horse (as I tried to explain at the end of the second chapter :-)).

It's beta-readed and so all remaining mistakes in grammar, spelling or expression are mine.

Once again: Feedback is very welcome!

But now enjoy!

Chapter 3

When Lancelot entered the fortress he realized how cold it had been outside the entire day. After his talk with Arthur he felt indeed better but he was still mourning for Toros and so he had no wish to join his fellow knights in the tavern.

While Arthur went back to the tavern to tell the knights that he had found Lancelot and that he was allright, Lancelot made his way to his room. Only now he noticed how tired he really was after two more or less sleepless nights.

"At least this night there should be no reason to wake me up _again_ until tomorrow morning", he muttered satisfied when he reached his room.

In normal case it took him a little while until he found enough peace to drift in sleep after a busied day but this evening he fell asleep as soon as his head touched his pillow. Two nights with only a little sleep were too much, even for Lancelot. But Toros' death dogged him even in his sleep and often he woke up during this night. Once he found himself sitting upright, tears running down his face. Quickly he dried his tears and hoped that he hadn't had scream in his sleep this time. It would not have been the first time that he had cried so loudly that he woke up some of the other knights. Especially Galahad and Gawain who were sleeping in the rooms next-door were sometimes disturbed by Lancelot's nightmares.

One time he had screamed out so loudly that even Arthur had heard him. And in no time first came Arthur and then nearly all knights had shown up, some with their weapons in their hands.

Luckily no one appeared this time to ask what was going on here. Relieved Lancelot laid down. Even when his fellow knights knew that he was grieving for Toros he didn't want that anyone saw him crying like a child. Soon he fell asleep again.

The remaining night passed peacefully.

When Lancelot woke up in the next morning he felt that something was different than usual. Through his closed lids he realized that it was remarkable light in the small room. While he was lying on his right side still slightly dozing he heard familliar voices. He turned over on his back and slowly opened his eyes. Finally full awake he detected that the voices came from outside. Lancelot stood up to have a look out of the window and was surprised to see that the sun was standing quite high. It had to be nearly noon! Lancelot could not remember such a long undisturbed sleep for a long time.

On closer inspection he saw Arthur, Galahad, Gawain and Bors outside despite the cold and the snow gathered on the yard and discussing about something.

Quickly Lancelot get dressed and made his way to the yard.

When he passed the stables the memory of Toros came back to him. Lancelot hesitated before walking on. He remembered how many times he had been standing here before entering the stables. And nearly every time Toros had felt that that his master was close to him. He had always shown his joy about Lancelot's visit by snorting and neighing so loudly that the other horses got nervous, too.

In time Lancelot had developped this in a game between him and his horse. Every time before he had entered the stables he had stopped out of sight waiting for Toros' typical expressions of pleasure. Only now he had got in, always a small reward for Toros in his hands. Lancelot thought of Toros' nervousness before leaving the stables. It nearly had been if he was looking forward to every mission of the knights.

But this time nothing except the normal sounds of the other horses were heard.

Lancelot forced his rising sadness back and walked across the yard.

Arthur, Gawain, Galahad and Bors were still standing at the same spot where Lancelot had seen them before. Under consideration no one of the knights had noticed Lancelot approaching them.

Just when he had almost reached his friends Bors finally saw him. "Wow, look there! Our sleeping boy has finished his beauty sleep. I have to remember that it could be of use to sleep through half the day."

"Yes, but when I look at you I think just sleeping would be useless in your case, except you would sleep for ten years at least." Lancelot retorted.

The other knights burst out laughing.

But soon they returned to their original subject.

Swiftly Lancelot found out that they were racking their brains about Tristan who had apparently disappeared during the last night.

"I saw him yesterday evening in the tavern but when I left he had already gone", Gawain remarked.

"Yesterday evening I saw him too but no one saw him today. And nobody has an idea where he could be", Arthur answered.

"It seems to me like a contagious illness. Yesterday Lancelot was missing and today it's Tristan. I wonder who would be the next who disappears", Bors thought loudly and let his gazes wander over the knights present. Finally Galahad caught his eye. "What about you, Galahad? What do you think about some holidays?"

The youngest knight just grinned and warned: "Don't give me a stupid idea like this!"

The knights decided to wait and see if Tristan would appear again until the evening. If this hadn't come to pass they would beginn to search for the scout.

With this agreement the five knights returned to their individual pastimes.

Arthur and Lancelot returned to the fortress. On the way Arthur began to speak: "I see you feel better today. That's good. What do you think about a little sparring fight or doesn't your wound allow it already?" he asked.

Lancelot was slightly annoyed about this second part of Arthur's question but he knew that this question was well-meant and so he supressed his anger.

"That's a good idea. I was already afraid that my swords would rust tightly in their scabbards. But keep this stupid, small scratch out of it! It's nearly healed up. Besides, I would beat you even with just one hand!"

In this moment a loud rumble was heard.

Arthur grinned while Lancelot pressed both hands on his rumbling stomach. "But I think I should eat something at first", Lancelot remarked as he realized that it was not without disadvantages neither to sleep nor to eat for nearly two days. But the last day he had not felt like eating something. He hadn't even felt hungry. This had changed now.

"Yes, I think that, too. I would be irritating if your stomach makes such noises during a sparring fight" Arthur considered. "And if _I_ beat _you_, you will finally say that you just lost due to your empty stomach."

Lancelot just snorted and went to the tavern to see if he could talk Vanora into giving him the leftovers of yesterday evening.

Arthur didn't doubt that Lancelot would be successful.

"I'll see you at the sparring field when you're replete", Arthur shouted but Lancelot just made a impatiently gesture.

Lancelot was very succesful in his plan. Half an hour later he left the tavern but now with a full stomach and very satisfied.

He went back to his room to get his twin swords.

When he reached the sparring field Arthur was already waiting for him, Excalibur in his right hand.

Lancelot drew his twin swords, looked at them for a moment and finally said: "Let's prove that you're worth to be a keepsake of Sarmatia. Now we'll show this conceited Roman how to use a sword." This last sentence was uttered loudly enough for Arthur to understand this. Arthur was glad to see that his closest friend was back to his normal behavior although he knew that it would take Lancelot some time to come to terms with the lost of Toros. But at least Lancelot had stopped avoiding every group of people to grief alone.

An impatiently shout brought Arthur back to reality: "What are you waiting for? If we don't start soon I'll be frozen to the ground!"

With a loud clash Excalibur and the twin swords met in the middle of the sparring field and the dangerous dance began.

But even if no one of the two knights wanted to be beaten by his best friend both of them were very careful not to hurt his person opposite.

Lancelot swung his swords back into a defending position after a swiftly blow which Arthur had blocked by lifting Excalibur up. The heavy blade cut through the air when Arthur moved forward to attack Lancelot once more. Lancelot crossed his blades to catch the heavy blow.

All maneuvers of Lancelot and Arthur were meant to disarm their opponents because Lancelot and Arthur had an agreement that every sparring fight would be finished as soon as one of them was disarmed. But this time it seemed that no winner would be declared. Neither Arthur nor Lancelot lost his weapon.

Not long after they had began their weapon training the first spectators arrived, attracted by the clatter of the swords.

During the last three days the knights had enjoyed their free time for it was very rare but gradual they started to bore and so they were grateful for every change.

Especially Galahad was so absorbed in this sparring fight that he didn't realize that another knight showed up and took up position beside him.

"How long is this going on yet?"

Galahad was startled by the voice and turned around to see who was this speaker. He was very surprised to see Tristan standing beside him.

"Tristan, where've you been?" he asked the question he was dealing with the whole day.

"I had something to be done that could not wait", the scout answered.

Dagonet who was standing near just grinned at the scout's brief reply.

In this moment Arthur lowered Excalibur. Nearly at the same time Lancelot brought his blades down.

"How about saying that this time the fight ended in a draw?" Arthur asked, slightly out of breath after fighting for nearly an hour without break.

"You're getting tired? But all right, I don't want to beat someone who can hardly hold his sword because he is so overexerted", Lancelot teased, also a little bit breathless.

Arthur was just about to say something similar about Lancelot's fitness when Tristan suddenly interrupted the discussion

"I know it's a shame to disturb your little banter but there's something I've to show to you", he addressed Lancelot and left his fellow knights behind, completely at a loss.

Lancelot exchanged surprised glances with Arthur and hurried to catch up with Tristan. The others followed far behind.

Without another word Tristan went to the stables.

After arriving the entrance Lancelot hesitated again to enter the stables. Tristan turned. "What's the matter? Are you afraid of horses recently?", he asked.

Lancelot pulled himself together and followed the scout. The last thing he wanted was to show someone his feelings in this moment. But like in the morning he had to force back a deep sadness once more when suddenly the image of Toros lying on the hay ground, covered with sweat and dying appeared before his eyes.

In the darkest corner of the stables Tristan stopped and beckoned Lancelot over to him.

Now getting curious Lancelot approached the corner and recoiled as soon as he recognize what Tristan had wanted to show him.

A black horse was standing there. At first sight Lancelot thought Toros were standing in front of him so great was the resemblance.

"Yesterday I heard you talking with Arthur by pure chance and I thought I could solve your problem about getting a new horse", Tristan just explained.

In bewilderment Lancelot devoted himself to the horse to get to know it not knowing that his problems had started right now.

Tbc

_Drakcir: I'm really sorry for the delay. _

_I'm glad that you liked the second chapter. What about the third :-)?_

_Surreal13: Thank you very much!While I was writing the second chapter it came to me that Tristan probably spend a lot of _

_time just __accompanied by his animals. And the end of chapter two was the result. _


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter4

Arthur, Gawain, Galahad, Bors and Dagonet arrived just in time at the stables to be welcomed by a gush of rude Sarmatian curses. The five knights approached curiously to find out what was going on there.

When Arthur saw the horse in the corner he already suspected who had brought it to the fortress' stables and why. The other knights seemed also to understand. As soon as they got closer Bors teased: "Hey, Lancelot. I don't know if this is the right way to welcome a new horse. Or were you just looking for a name?"

"Perhaps he thinks the horse could be sensitive and he doesn't want to hurt its feelings. And for this reason he cursed in his native tongue because he thinks that a British horse won't understand it", Gawain suggested.

"Haha, very funny" Lancelot felt his anger rising.

"And to your remark", he pointed at Bors, "tell this horse about it! Or do you think it's the right way to introduce yourself by biting someone?"

Now nearly seething with rage because of his mishap, the pain in his right hand where the black stallion had bitten him and the amused expressions on his fellow knights' faces when they guessed what had happened, Lancelot warned: "And if someone of you dare to laugh I'm going to kill you!"

"No one is going to laugh at you. Honestly", Gawain assured, but a barely supressed grin gave the lie to him.

"Oh no, this is going to become to stupid!" With this words Lancelot left the stables.

The day passed and only when Lancelot was sure that nobody would be in the stables any longer he decided to try his luck again with his horse. But this time he approached the stallion carefully to avoid another incident.

"Let's try it again. I'll forget that you bit me and you'll never do anything like this again, allright?" The black stallion neighed and shook his head but this time he allowed Lancelot to pat his nostril.

"We'll talk about this later again! And now we have to find a name for you."

"You don't need to rack your brain about this" Lancelot startled and turned around to see Tristan strolling along the stables.

"His name is Melyo. I know, it's not the best name for a horse but _I_ didn't call him so" with these words he reached Lancelot and leant on the wall.

"You proved once more why you're our scout", Lancelot remarked with a sigh, "I'm not a Woad and so there's no reason to creep up on me like that."

"Excuse me, I forgot that you're so jumpy", Tristan answered.

Lancelot decided this was the right time to change the topic.

"You didn't tell where you found him. It's unbelievable! He looks exactly like Toros!"

"Maybe they've got the same forefathers."

This answer was so unexpected that Lancelot was speechless for the moment. He just glanced at Tristan, not really knowing if he should believe the scout.

"He's borne here in Britain but he's just as Sarmatian as me or you."

"I think you should explain that!"

"Someone of my tribe lives near the Wall. We were at the same outpost in the beginning of my duty. When his 15 years were over he decided to stay here in Britain. Don't ask me why, I don't know. But he kept his horses. And those of other Sarmatian knights who were killed. Melyo is a descendant of these horses and his former master had to do me a favour. That's all"

Lancelot knew that this was indeed all what Tristan would give away about this strange event. With a sigh he turned his attention to the black horse in front of him. Just in this moment the stallion sneezed and a wet drizzle reached Lancelot.

"And tomorrow I'll have to take a bath", was his only remark.

The next morning began with a little surprise. The bitter cold of the last few days diminished a little bit. The ice, which had covered the ground for nearly four weeks melted and the knights had finally the opportunity to lead their horses out of the stables.

Lancelot's experience with Melyo told him that it would be better to try a gentle way. He took hold of Melyo's reins and led the stallion to the yard.

Although the ice and snow disappeared it was still cold outside and nearly all horses gave the impression that they didn't feel like leaving their warm stables and so Lancelot expected some difficulties with his horse. But to his amazement the black stallion followed him without hesitation. He felt very relieved when he arrived at the yard. All knights except Arthur were present at the stables and Lancelot was fed up with his different disgraces of the last few days.

On a trial basis Lancelot led Melyo around the yard. Even now the mount didn't cause any trouble.

With a proud expression Lancelot turned to Bors who was paying attention to his own horse.

"He finally understood who's the master!"

Just in this moment the stallion started moving and stepped forward. This movement came as a surprise to Lancelot and so he had not time to get his left foot to safety when Melyo hit it with his right hoof. Lancelot gritted his teeth.

"It would be great if you could take your foot away! NOW!", he whispered to the black stallion, carefully avoiding to draw Bors' attention to this awkward situation.

Melyo turned his head and looked at Lancelot before he lifted his hoof. In this moment Lancelot had the impression that the stallion was jeering at him.

Bors raised his head and looked at Lancelot and his horse.

"You've got any problems?"

"NO, I've _no_ problems! What makes you think that?"

"You're standing there rooted to the spot. I thought you taught him who's the master."

"Yes, and I'll show it to you!"

Swiftly he mounted, relieved that he didn't have to stand any longer.

He kicked the horse in his flanks but Melyo didn't move.

"Yes, I see who's the master here! I'm afraid you'll have to repeat this lesson."

With a grim expression on his face Lancelot dismounted and could barely withhold a wince when he put his weight on his left food. He pulled himself together and led Melyo by his reins. Immediately the horse started moving and followed Lancelot who walked across the yard. He managed to hide the limp and didn't let it show.

Satisfied he mounted the black stallion and tried to get Melyo moving but nothing happened. The horse stood there as still as a monument.

"Hm, I suspect he don't feel like carrying you. This horse suit well to you, it's just as stubborn as you"

If looks could kill Bors would have dropped dead in this moment.

Lancelot dismounted again and considered what he should do now. Galahad and Gawain arrived with their horses and Lancelot wasn't intent on making a fool of himself again. He could imagine their remarks when they would find out what had happened.

The solution for his problems came very unexpected in the form of Arthur, closely followed by Tristan and Dagonet.

The experience told the knights that Arthur would have some news, which could be very interesting.

"Knights, we finally got a new order. Some of the thieves we had caught on our last mission had talked. It seems that we caught only a part of these gang. The camp we found and attacked was only a kind of outpost. The main camp is somewhere south of the Wall. Our mission is to find this camp and to catch all remaining criminals. We'll leave tomorrow at first light."

Tbc

_feawenof4077: Okay, here was the explanation about the horse :-). I hope it's believable. And thank you for the tip:-)._

_Daydream1: Thank you very much for your great review. I'm glad that you liked the sparring match. It was just a spontaneous idea._

_Oh, I would hug him, too:-)._

_I'm happy that I found a new beta! I'm not able to post a story without correction;-)_

_Oh yes, the trouble already began but there will be more trouble evil grin. But not to much. _


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The knights spent the night preparing for the next day.

Long before dawn Lancelot made his way to the stables with a view to being the first. After his latest experiences with Melyo he feared that his horse would cause more trouble when he tried to saddle him and he wanted to spare himself another disgrace. It would be hard enough to hide his injured foot but Lancelot didn't want to admit that his stallion had been already successfull in playing his tricks.

He entered the stables, an apple in his pocket as usual but this time the fruit was intended to be a bribery.

Lancelot put his baggage down and carefully approached his horse. Melyo turned curiously his head, but as soon as he recognized Lancelot he looked away and ignored his master.

"Hey, Melyo, look. I've got something for you", Lancelot shouted. The horse didn't react.

Lancelot took the apple out of his pocket and put it in front of Melyo's snout.

The stallion hesitated for a brief moment, looked suspiciously at Lancelot and finally took the apple.

Lancelot grinned satisfied.

"You see, it works. If you stop this stupid behavior and if you're a good boy I've got more apples for you!"

The horse just snorted and turned its head away.

Lancelot looked at the sky and realized that he soon would have to prepare the horse for the knights' mission if he wanted to be finished when his fellow knights arrived in the stables.

Carefully Lancelot began to saddle his horse. But to his surprise the stallion was happy with the saddle.

Still skeptical and mistrustful Lancelot started to bridle his mount. The horse even didn't try to resist being bridled.

With great relief Lancelot finished his work and patted the animal's neck.

The beginning nervousness of nearly all other horses in the stables told Lancelot that he finished just in time before the knights and Jols arrived.

"At long last! We'll wait outside" with these words Lancelot took hold of Melyo's reins and led the black stallion out of the stables.

The knights exchanged surprised glances. It was the first time that Lancelot was prepared for a mission before his fellow knights.

But shortly after Lancelot had left the stables loud curses where heard:

"No, wait.. Damn you, you bloody nag!"

"What is he doing there?" Galahad asked the question all knights where dealing with.

"That's a good question. I've no idea but I'll find it out." Arthur turned round and went to the yard to see what was going on there. Gawain, Galahad and Bors followed curiously.

Outside the stables they found a sight for sore eyes.

Melyo was standing on the yard as still as a monument. But as soon as Lancelot tried to throw his saddlebag over the mount's back Melyo started running across the yard. When the stallion noticed that Lancelot wasn't right behind him he immediately stopped, waited for Lancelot and the game repeated.

First the knights couldn't believe their eyes but then the funny side of this situation gained the upper hand and so there wasn't a dry eye in the place.

Lancelot blushed when he saw Arthur, Galahad, Gawain and Bors standing outside, watching him and laughing. To cap it all Tristan, Dagonet and Jols joined the knights, attracted by the loud laughter.

Lancelot stopped trying to catch his horse and turned to Arthur and the knights, his face deep red. Immediately Melyo came to a stop.

In a rage Lancelot looked at his friends darkly. Gnashing his teeth he remarked: "I thought we should leave at first light. As far as I see I'm the only one who's ready to leave." This was just a miserable attempt to keep the last bit of his proud.

Gawain grinned and asked innocently: "Ah, and to make wait pass more quickly you're doing some extra fitness training?"

Lancelot was on the verge of attacking Gawain when Arthur intervened.

"He's right. We've got orders and these orders say that we've to leave as soon as possible. Get ready! And you", he turned to Lancelot, "keep your anger for these criminals!"

Still giggling the knights returned to the stables.

Despite the delay the knights left the fortress at sunrise.

When Melyo had realized that all spectators had left he had stopped causing further trouble.

Luckily the prisoners had given away where the knights approximately would find the main camp of the thieves. But it was still a long way and it would take at least one day to reach this camp.

As usual the knights spent the time talking but they all carefully avoided mentioning Lancelot's problems with his new horse. Although it was very tempting, they did without it. All knights knew Lancelot's temperament.

Even if the knights had enjoyed their days off they all were glad to be able to leave Badon Hill even if they left for a mission for the Roman Empire. But even that was better than being caged in the fortress like an animal.

Not long after their departure Arthur rode up with Lancelot.

"Let me guess what you're thinking about."

Lancelot, deep in his thoughts looked surprised at his closest friend. He even hadn't heard Arthur's stallion approaching.

"Try it, if you want", he said.

"You think that this will be a welcome opportunity for you to take revenge for Toros' death."

"You know me better than I thought. That was indeed my thought."

"I understand your feelings. But bear it that we need some of these criminals alive. I want to avoid a third mission if we miss some of these guys again. And if they're all dead no one can talk! "

"I'll think about it."

The morning passed without any incidents. Even Melyo didn't cause any trouble.

During the afternoon Tristan who was out scouting as usual returned.

"No sign of Woads or Saxons. But there's a river ahead which we'll have to cross. I found a ford two or three miles upriver. The river is in flood due to the thaw but the ford is still negotiable", he reported.

"We'll take this ford. Lead the way!", Arthur ordered.

In no time Arthur and his knights reached the ford.

Tristan was the first who crossed the ford and one by one the knights followed. The river was indeed in flood and so the water washed around the horses' legs and nearly reached their chests.

Lancelot looked skeptically at the river and followed Arthur. He left it to Melyo to find a way through the water.

But when the black stallion arrived the deepest place he suddenly took up position on his hind legs. Lancelot was completely surprised by this unexpected movement of his horse and so he had no chance to keep his balance. Just a few moments later he found himself down in the ice-cold water.

Arthur who had just crossed the ford took notice of Lancelot's fall and immediately turned his horse over.

As soon as Lancelot had recovered from his fright he stood up. To his luck the current wasn't very strong but the water still reached his hip.

He gave his horse an angry look and then glanced at his fellow knights.

"N-n-no, I-I-I d-don't be i-i-i-in such a-a-an urgent n-n-need o-o-of a b-bath, yes, I-I l-l-like s-swimming in m-m-m-midwinter and I-I-I always s-s-swim fully d-d-dressed. S-some o-o-other clever r-r-remarks I've f-f-forg-g-gotten?" he chattered.

Arthur scrutinized his closest friend and asked: "You're hurt?"

"N-n-no, j-j-j-just w-wet and c-c-cold" Lancelot answered while he made his way to the bank, ignoring Arthur's help offering hand.

Arthur looked at the dripping wet knight in front of him and then at the sky. The sun was already low.

"We'll stay the night here. Get firewood", he ordered.

While Gawain, Galahad and Dagonet disappeared into a nearby forest looking for wood Lancelot let his gaze wander over the wide place between the river and the forest. He found his horse near the forest nibbling at a low branch.

He walked across the meadow to get some dry clothes from his saddlebag, still chattering.

"Hey, I-I s-s-should ca-call you T-T-Troublem-maker, this name would suit you very well", he shouted to Melyo. Before he reached his horse Arthur appeared, his own blanket in his hands.

"Here, take this and go back. I'll get your horse."

Lancelot hesitated for a moment but then he took the blanket.

"Thanks. Be careful. He's deceitful", he warned his friend before he went back to the camp.

The fire was already burning and just now Lancelot realized how cold it was indeed. He sat down near the fire and enjoyed the warmth of the flames.

Luckily Bors drew the knights' attention to himself when he started to yawn.

"Vanora kept you on the go, I suppose", Gawain remarked.

"Yes, are you jealous?" Bors aked innocently.

Gawain didn't answer.

In this moment Arthur returned, Lancelot's dry clothes in his hands.

"Put them on. It will be warmer than these wet clothes."

Lancelot took the clothes and disappeared into the forest to get changed.

He finally felt the warmth returning in his body and he stopped shaking.

The evening passed and the knights llaid down to sleep.

In the morning they started off at sunrise. This time Melyo followed the other horses without any problems.

It was around noon when suddenly all hell broke out.

Tbc

_Drakcir: Welcome back and thank you very much for the two reviews ;-) As Bors said in the fourth capter: The horse is just as stubborn as its master._

_maroonraspberry_: _Thanks :-) Such an interview was indeed also decisive for this story. I hope you liked the fifth chapter._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter6

In no time the small gorge was filled with battlecries and the clatter of blades. The attackers were everywhere and so the knights found themselves surrounded by a bunch of these criminals Arthur and his knights were looking for. But soon the surprise gave way to the knights' fighting spirit. They draw their weapons and just a few moments later the first thieves fell dead to the ground pierced by Tristan's arrows.

Arthur drew Excalibur and brought the man standing in front of him down in one swift motion. A deep cut covered the criminal's throat.

Dagonet fought his way through the crowd, slaughtering every criminal who tried to stop him. He left bloody traces.

Gawain and Galahad also killed man by man.

Bors brought every attacker down who dared to attack the knight.

Lancelot dismounted and unsheathed his twin swords.

He swung his right blade around and stroke a deep wound in his opponent's stomach. The man collapsed, his hands cramped to his midsection. Blood was steadily flowing out and seeped away in the ground.

Lancelot lifted his blades to block an axe which was aimed for his chest. The criminal who was wielding the weapon lost his balance and stumbled.

Lancelot seized the opportunity with both hands by cutting the man's throat with a swift motion of his right sword.

Soon the next thieve decided to try his luck against Lancelot. But a few moments later he joined his dead comrades on the ground. A fatal wound appeared on his chest.

The criminals slowly realized that they were going to lose this battle against Arthur and his Sarmatian knights, like the smaller part of this gang did just a few days ago. But this time the thieves had another ace up their sleeves. A deadly rain of arrows went down on the battlefield.

Luckily these criminals were bad archers and so no knight was hit.

Tristan raised his bow and shot two arrows all at once. On top of the rocks two archers fell to the ground, death.

But despite their dreadful hit rate and the two dead archers the thieves continued the fire.

Lancelot decided this was the right moment to take cover as all his fellow knights had already done. He noticed a ledge in the rock face behind him.

He crossed his swords to block the attack of another enemy once more and slowly backed away until he felt the cold rock in his back.

His enemy sneered on the assumption that the knight in front of him was running away from his skillfully sword fighting. He lifted his blade and started to attack Lancelot once more. But he didn't reach the knight. He made one step towards Lancelot, froze suddenly and fell over, an arrow sticking in his back.

Lancelot looked up were the hostile archers had hidden.

"Thank you very much for your aid but I would have managed to cope with him on my own!" he shouted.

But suddenly Lancelot noticed that he was separated from his horse - again. All other horses had gotten away to safety but Melyo was still standing were Lancelot had left him behind. This was going to remind Lancelot of the fateful fight just a few days ago.

The main emphasis of the battle had moved down the gorge but the arrows still came down were this fight had begun. Miraculously no arrow had found its target by now.

Suddenly the memory of Toros came back to him. He saw his horse lying on the ground, dying.

"Not this time. Not if I can prevent it!", he said to himself.

He gripped his twin swords, ready to kill every person who was baring his way. His left blade clashed with the short sword of another opponent. He used his drive to ram his right blade in the man's midsection.

Filled with horror Lancelot saw two men approaching his horse. The blades of their raised swords flashed in the sunlight, ready to kill the mount at least as a kind of revenge for the dead thieves. But the fight had taught them that they could never beat the knights.

Lancelot reached the two criminals just in time to block a deadly stroke which was aimed for Melyo's throat. A heavy blow of Lancelot's left blade hit a deep wound in the first man's calf and put the man on his knees.

Lancelot crossed his twin swords and cut the man's throat.

The second attacker watched in horror as his comrade fell. But before he could recover he joined his dead friend on the ground.

In his great relief Lancelot didn't realize that he had made the same mistake as the man who tried to follow him when he had taken cover under the ledge.

He looked at Melyo and said: "I hope you know that I saved your life!" The horse snorted.

Suddenly his vision became blurred and he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder.

He felt a stream of warm blood running down his back.

The last thing he saw was his horse finally leaving the battlefield before erverything went black.

Down the gorge the fight came suddenly to a stop.

One by one the criminals gave up and laid his weapon down. As soon as the two remainig hidden archers noticed this fact they stopped shooting and joined their comrades in the gorge.

"A good choice. Dagonet, keep an eye on them!"

Arthur, Excalibur still in his hand turned around looking for his knights.

Dagonet and Galahad were standing beside him.

Tristan put his bow away and started picking up arrows from the ground. He took one of the criminals' arrows, scrutinized it and then throw it away.

"Dreadful work!" he detected.

Bors joined the knights.

Gawain was gathering the horses to bring them back.

Arthur hesitated. Were was Lancelot?

He looked over to the horses. Melyo was there, searching the ground for some blades of grass. But no sign of Lancelot.

Arthur went back down the battle field. Nervously he scrutinized every corpse on his way, being afraid that he could find his closest friend among them.

Arthur made his way back to his knights.

"Did you find him?"

Arthur could hear the fear in Galahad's question.

"No. In any case he's not among the deads, thank God."

"The last time I saw him he was fighting under this ledge down there", Gawain remarked.

Nobody had noticed that Tristan had gone back to the place were the fight had begun. He knelt down and looked for clues in the soft sand.

Suddenly something caught his eyes.

"Arthur, can you come here a minute? I found something interesting" , he called.

Arthur turned around and came across. Gawain and Galahad followed while Bors and Dagonet guarded the prisoners.

"What did you find?", Arthur asked.

Tristan pointed to a red puddle on the ground. "It's blood", he explained. "But there's still another thing which could be of interest to us." With these words Tristan stood up and took a few steps before he knelt down again.

"Look here. These traces look like someone was draged. And I found this"

He strechted out his hands and showed them what he had found: a necklace.

They all reconginzed it.

It was Lancelot's!

Tbc

_Drakcir: Thank you. Next cliffy is at hand ;-) I hope you liked this chapter despite this little cliffhanger but I couldn't resist._

_Loopey-Laura: Thank you very much for your review._

_Eshlyn Kar: Thank you! I'm glad you like it._


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, I'm really sorry about this delay but there was much to do for university :-(

This last chapter is not beta-readed and I hope there aren't to much mistakes.

But now enjoy!

Chapter 7

"Arthur, what will we do now?"

Gawain's softly spoken words finally broke the silence.

Arthur raised his eyes from the necklace in Tristan's hand and scrutinized the prisoners. Just in this moment one of the criminals caught Arthur's eyes. The prisoner looked over to the knights, guessed immediately what was going on there and slowly a sneer appeared on his face.

Arthur felt his anger raising as he realized that the gang planed this. He went down the gorge and stoped in front of the men. Despite their awkward situation most of the men looked very satisfied.

"Allright, I want to know what happened down there", he pointed down the battlefield. "I know you've planned something like that. One of my men disappeared and I want to know what happened to him!"

The men remained silent.

Before Arthur really knew what he was doing he draw Excalibur out of his scabbard and held it in front of one thieve's throat reday to kill him.

"I want to know what happened down there!" he repeated in a quiet voice but with a dangerous undertone.

The man he threatened looked at the Roman nervously but unimpressed.

Arthur increased the pressure on his sword and the blade slightly scratched the man's skin.

In this moment he felt a hand on his left shoulder

"Arthur, don't do this! It's useless", Galahad remarked.

Arthur sighed.

"You're right."  
With these words he lowered Excalibur, shoved the blade back through its scabbard and turned back to the knights.

"Bors, Dagonet and Gawain, you'll take our friends here to the fortress. If anyone of them tries to escape do whatever you want with him."

No more words were necessary. They all knew the Arthur would never return to Badon Hill without at least trying to find Lancelot.

Arthur and Galahad went back down the gorge to join Tristan who had been looking for some clues regarding Lancelot's disappearance.

"Did you find something?", Arthur barely dared to ask this question.

"Just the traces here and some footprints which lead to the wood", Tristan answered.

"That's better than nothing. We'll follow these footprints. Take the horses with you, maybe we will need them", Arthur ordered.

"I' ll take Lancelot's horse", Tristan remarked. "I think he prefers riding."

XXX

The first thing Lancelot saw when he regained consciousness was nothing but darkness. He screwed up his eyes and winked.

He slowly realized that he was lying on a cool and hard ground. Confused he tried to sit up but as soon as he moved his torso a sharp pain shot through his left shoulder. Immediately he remembered the fight against the criminals in the gorge and especially the moment when the arrow had hit him. Lancelot's right hand instinctively went back to his shoulder to touch the wound. Someone had removed the arrow while he had been unconscoius but they had made no effort to bandage the wound and now the fabric of his tunic adhered to the wound. But it finally had stopped the bleeding.

Lancelot again tried to sit up but this time he managed it and let his gaze wander over this strange room where he appearently was locked up.

On closer inspection he noticed that he was indeed sitting in a kind of dungeon with a stable door and just one window high up in the wall. To high to enable Lancelot to escape.

Just in the moment Lancelot was going to scrutinize the door he heard steps outside. Before Lancelot could do anything the door was opened and a tall man wearing black clothing and a red cape entered the dungeon.

"Oh, you're awake. That's good", the man remarked and then remained silent.

"Who are you, what do you want and why I'm here?" Lancelot finally asked impatiently.

"It's irrelevant who I am and where we are. I want to know the name of your leader. Unfortunately he caught some of my men."

"And I suspect you'll let me only go when these men are free," Lancelot said.

"You're very clever", the man remarked ironically.

"I'm very sorry that I've to disappoint you but I'm just a Sarmatian knight and the Roman Empire couldn't care less about a Sarmatian. I'm afraid you caught the wrong person", Lancelot retorted.

"I hope you know that I can kill you right now. But you're useless for us when you're dead", the man answered without letting it show if he believed the knight.

"There are still some things I really want to know and I'm sure you can give me an answer. One of my questions is: Where are my men?", the man cotinued.

Lancelot didn't answer.

The man raised his hand and hit Lancelot.

The blow sent Lancelot back to the ground and the pain in his shoulder increased.

"I just gave you a foretaste of what will happen if you'll be stubborn. Listen, I give you one day to think about it and then I'll return. And I promise you that I'll make you talk!"

He went back to the door but suddenly stopped and turned back to Lancelot.

"And don't have hopes that someone will free you. Nobody saw us."

With these words he left the dungeon and left Lancelot alone.

But neither Lancelot nor the man knew that after all one living thing already had premonitions where they where.

XXX

Arthur, Tristan and Galahad had followed the traces for a while and from time to time they had found some clues that someone had taken this way a short while ago.

The sun was already setting down when the traces led them to a small hill.

"Arthur, we have a problem. I'm afraid we won't find some new traces on this rocky ground", Tristan remarked.

Arthur just nodded. He had known that just following the traces to find Lancelot was to easy.

"Maybe we can see something of interest from that hill", Galahad suggested.

Arthur was going to agree with Galahad when Melyo attracted the knights' attention. He raised his head, neighed and took a few steps. He turned back, looked at the knights and neighed again before he walked on.

"What's the matter with him?", Galahad asked. " Is it one of his tricks again? He acts as if he were a dog."

"And I think he wants that we follow him", Arthur suspected.

Galahad looked at him surprised but before he could say something Tristan remarked: "I also think so. Lets give it a try. What else should we do?"

As soon as Melyo realized that the knights had understood him he walked on.

Melyo led the knights around the mountain and soon they detected that it had been the right idea to follow the black mount as they saw some houses of a small village on the horizon hidden in the woods.

Melyo came to a stop, neighed again and looked at the knights.

"It looks like we found what we were looking for", Tristan said and patted Melyo's back.

"Yes, and we would not have managed it without this horse", Arthur answered. "It's unlikely that there are much of these criminals left, we decimated them during the last two fights. And it seems that they are certain that nobody will find this place. I can't see any guards and the gate is open."

"What are we waiting for?" Galahad asked.

"You're right. Lets go in."

The three knights drew their weapons and entered the small village.

XXX

The clatter of swords, cries of battle and just a few moments later cries of pain let Lancelot startle. Immediately he sprang to his feet.

He had a feeling that it was Arthur who was fighting outside.

"Hey, I'm down here!", he shouted.

But nothing happened. The fight continued.

"Can anyone hear me?", Lancelot shouted again.

Suddenly commotion began in the building which contained the dungeon. The battle was going on inside this building.

Lancelot shook the door and shouted again, hoping that one of the knights would hear him.

But the noise outside fell silent and nobody appeared.

All of a sudden Lancelot noticed that it was getting warmer and warmer in the dungeon. Horrified he saw the first clouds of smoke around the door.

The building was burning and Lancelot realized that he had no chance to escape!

XXX

Arthur, Galahad and Tristan soon had been engaged in a fight, but in no time they noticed that Arthur was right. There weren't much of the thieves left who could defend the yard and the fight ended soon.

Arthur looked around but he found no sign of Lancelot.

"I heard something!", Galahad suddenly whispered.

Arthur turned to the youngest knight. "What did you hear?"

"I'm not sure but it sounded like someone screaming for help. Listen, there it was again."

"Yes, I also heard something now", Tristan agreed. "I think it came from there." With these words the scout pointed at a big building on the other side of the yard.

Arthur took hold of his sword and made his way to the house. The door was open and the knights carefully entered the building. They found themselves in a large corridor with small stairs at the rear which led to a basement. But as soon as they tried to reach the stairs five figures appeared. One of them who was wearing black clothes and a red cape stopped but the others immediately drew their swords and attacked the three knights.

In no time the first attacker fell to the ground, killed by Tristan's sword.

Arthur lifted Excalibur and swung the sword around to stroke a deep wound in his opponent's chest. The man fell to the ground, his hands cramped to his bleeding chest.

Galahad brought down his enemy in the same moment the last man attacked Arthur. But soon he joined his dead comrades on the ground.

The criminals' leader watched in horror at his dying men.

In panic he looked around and a burning torch caught his eyes. He grabbed the torch and pointed to a pile of straw which was lying in a corner near the wooden stairwell

"You see I can stop you from freeing this knight. Release my men or I set this house on fire and he will die down there!", The man shouted still in panic.

Arthur looked at the leader, Excalibur still in his hand. He slowly approached the man.

"Stop, or I'll drop this thing", the criminal shouted.

Arthur immediately stopped feverish thinking about a last resort.

Deep in thoughts he didn't notice the sudden flash of cold metal in the man's hand as he drew a small knife. But as soon as the criminal raised his hand to throw the deadly weapon Tristan's bow buzzed. The man collapsed, an arrow sticking in his chest. The knife clattered to the ground but the burning torch unfotunately hit the straw. Immediately the fire spread out towards the stairs.

Horrified Arthur realized that it was impossible to break through the flames.

"Arthur, we must get out!" Galahad pressurized.

"He's right. Perhaps we can find another way to save Lancelot", Tristan suggested.

Arthur realized that the two knights were right. He nodded and they left the burning building.

"Arthur, we heard him outside. Do you remember? There must be an opening. We just have to find this opening", the scout explained.

Luckily Galahad soon found the window in the wall.

"Hey, is there anyone?", he shouted down.

"Galahad, thank gods! Get me out of here!" Lancelot answered.

Galahad beckoned Arthur and Tristan over to the wall. "I found a window which leads to the dungeons."

Arthur immediately made his way to Galahad.

"Lancelot, can you hear me?" he asked.

"Of course, I'm not deaf. Get me out, I'm nearly done!", Lancelot coughed.

In this moment Tristan arrived, a rope in his hand.

"I see he's still alive", he detected.

"Lancelot, we've got a rope here. We'll pull you up."

"But hurry up!"

Lancelot grabbed the end of the rope which Tristan had thrown down and tied it to his waist.

"I'm ready" he shouted.

The knights pulled and soon Lancelot was able to leave the burning building.

He sat down and coughed.

"You're hurt?" Arthur asked.

"Just a few scratches. I'm well."Lancelot lied. His shoulder ached terribly and he was feeling dizzy.

"Don't lie to me. We found a puddle of blood at the battlefield and I suspect it was yours." Arthur insisted.

Lancelot pointed to his back

"Shoulder", he explained.

Arthur gently tore the fabric of Lancelot's tunic and looked at the wound.

"It was an arrow", Lancelot admitted.

Without saying a word Tristan knelt down, his bag beside him and started to clean the wound.

Suddenly Lancelot raised his gaze.

"I want to know something. How did you find me?", he asked.

"I think you won't believe it but it was your horse who led us the way." Arthur explained.

Lancelot suspiciously glanced at Melyo who was standing at the yard.

"Well finally this troublemaker is helpfull", he detected. "Thank you, Mel."

END

_Loopey-Laura_ : It looks like Melyo found a way to return Lancelot a favour ;-)

_Kal's Gal_: _Okay, here's the update._

_Drakcir__: You see, you were right ;-) Once again I'm very sorry about this delay._

_Eshlyn Kar__: Okay, what shall I say? I couldn't do it without this cliffy ;-)_

_kyra: Thank you very much. I'm glad you like it. _


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